NEW YORK GIANTS placekicker Lawrence Tynes can write himself into Super Bowl history this weekend if he wins the showpiece game for his side with a field goal.

Of the 45 previous Super Bowls, only five have been won by field goals, with three of those in the last 10 years by Adam Vinatieri, the ex-New England Patriots kicker.

Greenock-born Tynes, who has kicked two NFC championship-winning field goals for the Giants, would eclipse those achievements if he did the same in Indianapolis.

The first to be settled in this way was in 1971 when Baltimore Colts beat Dallas Cowboys 16-13 with Jim O’Brien kicking the winning points with just five seconds left.

Twenty years later, New York Giants edged Buffalo Bills 20-19 with Matt Bahr’s field goal in Tampa. The Bills’ Scott Norwood had earlier sent a 47-yard field goal effort wide.

Ironically, the goalposts had been moved in 1974 when they were shifted from the goalline to the back of the endzone. That 10 yards was significant. Had the posts stayed put, Norwood’s kick would have won the Super Bowl 17 years later.

In 2002, Vinatieri kicked a 48-yard field goal to give the Patriots a 20-17 win over St Louis Rams in the game’s last play and two years later he nailed a 41-yarder in a 32-29 win over Carolina Panthers with just four seconds left!

Then in 2005 his kick midway through the final quarter took the Patriots to another win, this time 24-21 over Philadelphia Eagles in Jacksonville.